


A Little Like Magic

by squadlevi



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Christmas, Copious Amounts of Fluff, I hope you brush your teeth because this will send you to the dentist, M/M, Modern AU, This is fluff, domestic AU, first fic ayyyyyy, ha wow what are tags, literally just fluff, rated T for mild language and cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-16
Updated: 2013-12-16
Packaged: 2018-01-04 20:11:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1085209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squadlevi/pseuds/squadlevi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been years since he last had a tree in the house, or had really done anything for Christmas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Like Magic

**Author's Note:**

> I was decorating my tree and this idea hit me like a ton of bricks. 
> 
> it was originally supposed to be a less-than-1k drabble but late nights got away from me goodbye
> 
> thanks to Talia (heichews) for inspiration/help/being a supportive waifu and encouraging me every moment I tried to give up  
> Gin (eren--jager) for staying up with me till hella late and brainstorming ideas while squealing over these stupid boyfriends  
> and also Talia again for being rad and an amazing friend and and beta reading this disaster. ;] 
> 
> I love you guys

~ ~ ~

Eren walked into the room and set down a brightly-coloured box. 

Levi sat up slowly and turned, “What the hell is that?”

Eren’s step faltered, but he recovered quickly, throwing back his shoulders and putting his arms out excitedly, “I thought we could get into a festive mood by decorating a Christmas tree!” 

Levi sighed and relaxed back into the couch, "We don't even have a Christmas tree," he stated, turning back to the television, "I don't know where you got all that crap, but you should put it back where you found it."

Eren clasped his hands behind his back and shuffled his feet, "Well..." 

Levi didn't move. 

"Levi..."

"What, Eren?" 

Eren glanced over his left shoulder at nothing in particular, "Well..."

"Don't give me that lost puppy look, spit it out."

Eren closed his eyes and sighed, "Ikindofalreadyboughtatreeanditsinthecar-" he breathed, opening one eye slightly to gauge his boyfriend's reaction. 

Levi blinked twice and didn’t move. "You what?" 

Eren took a slow breath in, opening his eyes and tilting his head back to focus on the ceiling, "I bought a tree already, and it's waiting in my car. I was hoping you'd help me bring it in and decorate it."

Silence. 

Eren smiled weakly, "It's Christmas..."

More silence.

He straightened his back and squared his shoulders, looking directly at Levi, "You may not care, but this is important to me. I just thought we could do something fun for our first Christmas together. I don't know why you have to be like this." He made sure to maintain eye contact with the intimidating set of unblinking steel-grey eyes that were currently boring holes in the wall directly behind his head. 

"No." 

Eren's shoulders fell. "No?"

"No." 

"But Leviiiiiii-"

"I said no."

Eren gave one more pleading look, and was met with stoic resolve. He frowned. “You’re no fun,” he pouted, as he picked up the small box and turned to walk back out of the room. 

~ ~ ~

It was five minutes before he walked back in, sans box, and quietly sat down on the couch, reaching over and wrapping his arms around Levi’s waist to pull him into his lap.  

"Okay," he stated simply. 

Levi said nothing but relaxed back into Eren’s chest. 

Ten minutes went by. 

Eren leaned down and kissed the tip of Levi's ear. He felt Levi flinch. He smirked and did it again. 

"What are you doing?" 

"Don't mind me, just keep watching TV."

Levi made a small "hmph" in the back of his throat and leaned back further. 

Eren settled back and decided to try another tactic. He moved his hand and began tracing lazy circles on Levi's hip, smiling as he leaned down to put his face into his neck. He took a breath in and reveled in the scent that lingered there - the faint cedar of Levi’s aftershave mixed with lavender from his shampoo, and the smell of soap that always seemed to follow him wherever he went. 

It was an unusual smell, but it was also distinctly Levi, and Eren loved that about him. He took another deep breath before leaning in further to kiss the smooth skin there, trailing light kisses from the edge of Levi’s too-big sweater (it was one of Eren’s) to the sensitive place behind his ear. He felt Levi’s breath catch.  

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Eren paused for a fraction of a second before moving his hand further up, slightly beneath the hem of the oversized sweater. 

He put his lips close to Levi’s ear and barely whispered, “Why are you no fun?” 

Levi shuddered, just a little, and frowned as he turned his head further away. 

Eren took that as an invitation. He leaned back down and began kissing the newly exposed skin near his collarbone. 

“I’m _trying_ to watch television.” 

“So watch television.” Eren smiled into the soft fabric, taking in his favourite scent again. 

Levi sighed and leaned back again. “I am.”

“Okay then.” Eren breathed into his ear, and he felt the heat start rising along the skin his lips were still touching. He shifted his gaze over and could see a faint blush forming on the usually stoic man’s cheeks, and his lips twitched up in a slight smirk. He knew he’d already won. 

He leaned forward one more time and lightly kissed the back of Levi’s neck, his nose barely grazing the short hairs at his hairline. Levi made a small grunt and quickly turned around from where he was, effectively straddling Eren’s hips and making himself taller for a change. 

He looked down into those maddeningly beautiful green eyes and let out a short huff before touching his lips slowly and sweetly to the waiting pair below him. 

“Fine. You win,” he whispered, his breath tickling Eren’s skin. He leaned back and moved his leg over to stand up off the couch. He looked back as he was about to leave the room, “Are you coming?” 

Eren’s eyes widened comically before he burst into a dazzlingly bright grin and jumped up from the couch, almost knocking over a glass of water in the process. 

“You don’t have to be so excited.” Levi deadpanned. 

Eren just smiled and bumped him gently with his hip before quickening his pace to the door, adding a little extra bounce to his hips and humming. Levi allowed himself a small smile as he wondered how a mess of brown hair and fumbled words and green eyes could weaken his resolve so easily.

Somehow, he didn’t mind. 

~ ~ ~

Levi frowned. _I take it all back,_ he thought. 

As if sharing a birthday with a over-commercialized holiday wasn’t enough, he had now allowed his fanatical boyfriend to coerce him into celebrating said over-commercialized holiday by decorating a _filthy_ tree. And furthermore, as if that wasn’t enough, he was sure that the amount of lights Eren had purchased--for the sole purpose of decorating a tree that was far too large for their living room--was enough to short-circuit the entire block, possibly the neighborhood, and maybe even the city. 

“I take it back.”

Eren looked up from connecting the strands of small, brightly coloured bulbs. “What?”

“I take it back. I’m not decorating a tree that’s already tracked dirt and God-knows-what-else into my house. There’s probably sap on the floor. I take it back. We’re not doing this.” 

Eren closed his eyes and sighed. He stood up, “But you promised.” 

Silence.

He walked over and grabbed Levi’s hands. “Come on, it’ll be fun!” Smiling widely, he pulled him over to one side of the tree. “You stand here, and I’ll pass the lights around to you. We’ll wrap them from the top down.” 

“These lights are going to short out the house.”

Eren laughed, “No they won’t.”

“You’re right. I was mistaken. I’ve done some careful math and I was grossly underestimating the lack of forethought on your behalf. This should be enough wattage to short out the city.”

Eren tossed an ornament at Levi’s head, “Shut up, Scrooge. I’m making a new rule: no bad moods when it comes to Christmas.”

Levi snorted, “Good luck with that one.”

“Just hand me the lights, will you?” 

Levi tried again, “They’ll keep me awake.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“The lights. You can see them through the door to the bedroom. All these bright-ass lights are going to keep me awake all night and then you can say goodbye to your idea of not being grumpy during Christmas.”

He felt the lights go slack as his entire field of vision was filled with a brilliant shade of green. Hands wrapped around his waist, and he could smell the fabric softener from the soft grey cashmere currently inches away from his face. 

“Just hand me the lights,” Eren breathed, kissing him on the tip of his nose. He felt the hands slowly moving their way up his back, steadily feathering their way up to his hairline-- suddenly he felt a short push down, tugging on his hair; and a small... _something_ bump the back of his head as he was given back his personal space. He reached up to feel soft velvety material. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I am not wearing a Santa hat.” 

Eren was in the process of putting a second hat on himself, “Oh no you don’t, you can’t take that off. It’s Christmas, and we are decorating our Christmas tree, and you are wearing a hat, and I am wearing a hat, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

A small “tch” was all Eren got in response before he was roughly handed the strand of lights. 

“Merry Christmas to you too,” he chuckled lightly.

~ ~ ~

_Glitter._

Levi wiped his hands on his jeans. 

_Of all things. Glitter._

A concened voice came from somewhere on his right, “You look sick, Levi. Are you okay?”

Levi just stood there, attempting to process the scene in front of him. There was glitter on his hands, on his clothes. There was glitter on the floor- there was glitter _everywhere._  

“Eren.” His voice was low and steady. 

Eren scrutinized the expression currently on Levi’s face. He couldn’t tell if he was angry or if he was confused; or if he just really needed to use the bathroom. "Yes?" 

There was a long pause before another sound came. “Do you know what my least-favourite part of grade school was?” 

Eren swallowed, “No Levi, I don’t.” 

He was still staring at the floor. He took a breath and continued in the same dark, even tone, “The arts and crafts time. I hated that part. Do you know why?”

Eren didn’t answer.

“Because of the glitter. Glitter gets everywhere. It sticks to the floor and to your clothes. It doesn’t matter how many showers you take or how long you spend cleaning it up-- it never goes away. Weeks later, you walk into the room and there it is, waiting for you. You look in the mirror after three showers and there it is, in your hair. Glitter is like the genital herpes of craft time.” 

It was at this precise moment that Levi chose to look up from his reverie. “Why the _hell_ did you think it was a good idea to buy ornaments covered in glitter?” 

Looking back, Eren would say that he put forth a valiant effort. He knew how much Levi valued order and cleanliness, and he respected that about him; but the sight standing before him was too much. Levi was literally _sparkling_. Gold flecks adorned his hair and his cheeks. Eren’s mouth twitched up in the corners and his nostrils flared as he let out a loud snort. He closed his eyes and turned away, but the damage was already done.

“What is _wrong_ with you?” 

“Levi, oh my god. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry-” his body shook with silent laughter.

“What?!”

“It just-” Eren took a deep breath, there were tears in his eyes, “It seems that you’ve been infected with the genital herpes of craft time.”

Levi blinked, and a piece of glitter fell from his hair onto his eyelashes. “I what?”

Eren grabbed Levi’s hand and walked him over to the mirror on the other side of the room. “You-” he suppressed another snort, “You’re covered in glitter.” 

There was another long pause as Levi assessed his reflection. “I fucking hate glitter.”

Eren snorted again. “I think it makes you look cute.”

“I think it makes me look stupid.”

“Agree to disagree.”

Levi walked back over to the tree, “Let’s just get this over with. Because of you, my entire night is now going to be taken up by cleaning and showering-- and so is yours.”

Eren smiled again as he walked over to wrap his arms around Levi from behind. “As long as I’m with you, I don’t mind if cleaning the house takes all night.”

Levi sharply jutted his hips backwards and Eren let go, “That was literally the cheesiest thing I have ever heard you say.”

Eren stepped back and squeezed his eyes shut, pulling his lips back into the widest grin he could muster, “But you love it anyway.”

Levi turned away and picked up another glitter-infested ornament, “I _tolerate_ it anyway.” he murmured as he hung the offending object on an awaiting branch. 

“You loooove me.” Eren practically sang as he resumed decorating the tree. 

Levi couldn’t help but allow himself another small smirk. Eren just began humming absently to himself as he continued to place ornaments. 

~ ~ ~

They continued in a comfortable almost-silence for another few minutes before Levi glanced over to watch Eren step down from the ladder he was using to place the star on top of the tree. He allowed his gaze to drift back to where Eren had just been and he stopped abruptly, “No, you’ve got it all wrong. Look at this mess,” he sighed, as he pushed Eren out of the way and began re-hanging all of the ornaments. “These are too close, and this one is off on it’s own-”  

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you actually cared about this tree.” Eren raised an amused brow.

“I don’t.”

“I know.”

“If I had known I’d be doing this whole thing by myself I never would have agreed to it,” he frowned, his hat starting to slip off to the side, “It’s too much effort, and it’s inconvenient, and it takes up the entire living room-”

“It’s beautiful.”

Levi stopped and turned his head. Eren’s face was completely serene, looking up towards the top of the tree. 

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I said, ‘It’s beautiful.’” He smiled as he reached over to straighten out the hat on Levi’s head. “There’s just one more thing,” he began to step backwards, “Stay there, don’t move an inch. I’ll be right back.”

Levi frowned again and let out a long sigh- this really was too much effort. He glanced back down at the floor, and again took in the discouraging sight of tiny flecks of glitter settled into the cracks. He began calculating how long it would take him to clean up everything before he could relax into a nice hot shower and then promptly go to bed. 

“Close your eyes.” 

He glanced up and saw Eren standing before him; hands behind his back, hat turned just slightly off-center, eyes shining bright, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. He took in the way his hair fell softly just below his eyebrows and silently noted that it was high time he received another haircut. 

“I said close your eyes.”

Levi obeyed. 

“Now hold out your hands.”

He rolled his eyes beneath his lids and cocked his head to the side. “Don’t get mouthy.” he teased as he held out his hands. 

“That’s for later.”

The corners of Levi’s lips turned up slightly and he felt a small box get placed in his hands.

“You can open your eyes now.” 

When he opened them the first thing he saw was Eren, still standing with his hands behind his back, looking like a child who was trying to contain an exciting secret. He glanced quizzically down at the object in his hands. 

Eren let out a short breath before speaking at an alarming rate, “Okay, okay, so you might think this is totally stupid and it kind of is, but I don’t really care. My parents had one of these and I just--” he trailed off.

Levi looked closer, and saw it was a small picture frame. He turned it over to read the caption at the bottom, _First Christmas Together._

Eren watched as Levi examined the ornament. A minute went by without any comment, and he began to bite his lower lip in frustration, “I know you probably think it’s totally dumb; ah, now _I_ think it’s totally dumb. But--”

“My parents had one of these, too.” Levi's voice was thick. 

Eren closed his mouth and took in the soft expression that had come over Levi. His shoulders had rolled in slightly, as the weight of a memory overcame him. Levi never talked about his parents, and Eren held his breath, waiting for him to continue. 

Levi swallowed. “They had a polaroid picture in it; it was too big for the frame, and they had folded it in on itself to fit. It was a picture of them on their honeymoon-- they were both laughing. It was my favourite picture of my parents.”

“What happened to it?

Levi straightened back up and looked at Eren, clearing his throat, “I’m not sure, actually. I haven’t seen it in years.”

“My parents had a polaroid in theirs, too.”

Levi raised his eyebrow, “Really?

“Yeah, that’s why I have this.” He moved his hands around from behind his back and revealed a very old-looking Polaroid camera.

“Where did you get that?

Eren smiled and held it up in front of his face, “It belonged to my parents, they gave it to me when I moved out,” he laughed as he snapped a picture.

“What the hell?!”

Eren lowered the camera and pulled the picture out of the front. He moved over to stand next to Levi as they waited for it to develop.

“That’s one shitty-ass picture of me.” Levi quipped.

“No. I think it’s the best I’ve ever taken of you.”

Levi took it from Eren’s hands and held it up in front of him, “You honestly think this is the best picture you’ve ever taken of me? My mouth is hanging open.” 

Eren looked at it again, “Okay, okay. It’s a pretty bad picture.”

“Damn right it’s a pretty bad picture.” The bite was back in Levi’s tone. He turned and lifted his hand to gently push the hair out of Eren's eyes. His fingertips  dragged downward, feather-light, as he cupped Eren's chin and allowed his gaze to roam over Eren's features, “I don’t think I could take a bad picture of you, though.” His voice was soft. Eren leaned a little into Levi’s touch, “Even though your hair is absolutely awful.”

Eren laughed, “I’ll pretend like that last part didn’t happen.” He leaned forward to touch his forehead to Levi’s.

“I won’t. You need a haircut like a--”

“Don’t finish that thought, you’ll ruin the moment.” 

“Too late, I’m tired of standing. Can we take the picture already?”

Eren sighed and stood back up straight as he held the camera out, pointing it directly at them, “Are you ready?”

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

Just before Eren clicked the shutter button, he turned his head to plant a quick kiss on Levi’s cheek. The flash went off, and Levi whirled around to face Eren square on, “What was that?”

“Spontaneity.” Eren grinned, as he pulled the photo from the front of the camera. 

After a few moments, the picture began to come into focus. They stared at it for a few seconds before Eren spoke up, “I like it.”

Levi frowned, “I look like I’m getting licked by a dog.”

Eren looked back down at the picture. It was crooked, and Levi’s face was half-scrunched in the side of the frame as Eren’s lips were connecting with his cheek. Eren was smiling; and Levi looked genuinely surprised, albeit a bit grumpy. They both had glitter in their hair and on their faces. 

“I think it’s perfect.”

“I think we should retake it.”

Eren bit his lip to surpress a smirk, “Too bad, because that was the last one.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No. Now hand me the frame, it’s perfect.” 

Levi made a small hum of disapproval as he passed the frame over. Eren just continued to smile as he bent the corners of the photo back to fit it into the frame. 

“There we go.” He straightened his back and hung the ornament right in the center of the tree. 

“It looks kind of out-of place all alone in the middle like that.” Levi remarked as he glanced up and down the tree, still standing in the same place he had been for the past five minutes. 

Eren leaned his shoulder into Levi’s, “It won’t in a few years when we have dozens and dozens of ornaments, commemorating every Christmas from here on out.” 

“I like the sound of that.” Levi said softly as he looked again at the picture. It was a stupid picture, but at a second glance he realized it couldn’t have been a more perfect representation of what their first Christmas together was like. 

“I have to put this away,” Eren turned to leave the room. “But you really should step back and look at the whole picture,” he called over his shoulder, “I’ll be right back.” 

Levi stepped back and admired their handiwork. He had to admit, the tree really did look beautiful all dressed up in bright lights and obscenely colourful ornaments. It had been years since he last had a tree in the house, or really done anything for Christmas; and something about it put him in a lighter, possibly even nostalgic mood. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he looked all the way up to the top where the star was barely touching the ceiling. He heard a small, “click” and turned his head just in time to see Eren putting his phone back into his pocket, barely able to contain his grin.

“You did not just-”

“I did just.”

“Your ass is so screwed, Eren.” 

“That’s kind of the point-”

Eren’s statement was cut off by a throw pillow to the side of his head. 

He laughed, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! You just looked so cute, I’ve never seen you look so peaceful. With the lights coming off the tree, it was like--” He trailed off. 

“Like what?”

Eren smiled to himeslf and looked down at the floor, “Like magic.” he said breathily. 

Levi took a few steps toward him and reached down to intertwine his fingers with Eren’s. He leaned in and turned his head towards the tree. 

“Maybe it is a little like magic.” he mused, as Eren wrapped his free hand around the small of Levi’s back and Levi closed his eyes at the sensation.  He never wanted to admit it, but he was silently grateful to be shorter-- his height was perfect to rest his head against Eren’s chest, right where his heart was. 

The lights glowed softly as they stood there, taking in the comfortable silence. 

“Thank you, Levi.” Eren whispered into his hair.

Levi smiled and took a step back. He pulled Eren gently towards the couch and they sat down together; Eren pulled Levi into his lap once more, and Levi leaned back comfortably against his chest. 

“I love you.” 

Levi smiled as he turned his body to wrap his arms loosely around Eren’s neck. “I love you too,” he murmured as he placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. "Merry Christmas, Eren."

He sat back to look once again into those beautiful green eyes, and his gaze was met with a soft smile, "Merry Christmas, Levi."

_I could stay here forever,_ he thought, as he leaned forward to lay his head on Eren’s chest.

The glitter could wait until tomorrow. 

~ ~ ~

**Author's Note:**

> hit me up on tumblr for more wild rides http://squadlevi.co.vu (willyoucometowakemeup)
> 
> wow that sounded 300x less suggestive in my head *leaves it here anyway*


End file.
